The clock starts with the first letter
A run does not begin when the screen opens. You can take a calm look at the grid, and the seconds count from your first tap.
Word game for iPhone
Word Rush
A word is hidden on a letter grid. You tap its letters in order before the 60 seconds run out.
- Platform
- iPhone, iOS 14 or later
- Price
- Free, with ads
- Languages
- English, Polish, German, Spanish, French, Italian
- Age rating
- 4+
A whole run on film
The film shows one run, from picking a mode to the score screen.
How to play
Find the word
The letters of the word are scattered across the grid among letters that do not belong to it. The clock starts on your first tap.
Tap in order
A finished word raises your combo. A mistake resets it and costs time: from half a second to two seconds, depending on the mode.
The grid grows
After every ten words you get 15 seconds and the grid changes from 4×4 to 5×5, then to 6×6. The run ends when the clock hits zero.
Four modes
Every mode starts at 60 seconds. They differ in what you see, what a mistake costs and how points are counted.
Hidden
You cannot see the word. The game shows its length and reveals one to four letters at the start. You have three power-ups to help.
Target
The word is written under the grid, so you only look for the letters. It is easier, so points count with a 0.9 multiplier.
Rush
Only 3 and 4 letter words. A finished word adds no time, there are no power-ups and a mistake costs 2 seconds.
Precision
You see only the first letter of the word. There are no power-ups and a mistake takes 1.5 seconds, but points are multiplied by 1.5.
What I did
Word Rush is my own project. I made it on my own, from the rules to the App Store release.
- Rules
- Four modes, scoring with a combo and three power-ups.
- Screen design
- A dark background, neon colours and a separate colour for each mode.
- Development
- The whole iPhone game: the letter grid, the clock, scoring and records saved on the phone.
- Words
- More than 2000 words in each of six languages, with accented letters on the grid.
- Sound and vibration
- A separate signal for a correct letter, a mistake, a finished word and a bigger grid.
- Leaderboards and store
- Game Center leaderboards, ads and the App Store release.
Decisions
Word Rush has a dark background and neon colours. Below are a few things I settled for a short run against the clock.
Colours and type
#0a0a12#7c3aed#06b6d4#f59e0b#22c55e#f43f5e
Orbitron, Chakra Petch, JetBrains Mono
Technology
The grid hides the word
The other cells are filled with letters drawn as often as they occur in that language, accented ones included. No letter stands out from the rest.
How far from your best
After a run you see how many points you were short of your best, every word you finished and the fastest one.
You earn power-ups by playing
You get a hint for a quickly finished word, slow time for every third combo step and a skip for every ten words. You can hold at most two of each.
Ads only after the score
The first 5 games have no ads. After that an ad appears once every 3 finished games, always after the score screen.
- game modes
- 4
- Polish words
- 2334
- languages
- 6
Screens
Word Rush